McKenzie Exercise

Good idea if you have radiating pain.

First thought, "PAIN!" I really don't understand how this could possibly help. Arching that way only seems to cause more irritation. I got the disclaimer that it doesn't help with all discs problems, but from what I understood him to say, it should help with bulging discs in the lower back(?). Maybe I'll watch it again to see if I missed something.

I shall try to offer something significant but lack the true knowledge on scar tissue relief. Scar tissue tends to bind your back up and limit spinal motion, so performing religious but gentle back stretching exercises to loosen up scar tissue bonds on bone until you begin to notice a small change over an extended period of time, say 6 months, could prove beneficial. It is important to jot down how your back feels before and after any back pain treatments and compare the general trends over time. By zooming out to a wide angle you will observe results that cannot be seen when zoomed in on the current focus of immediate pain relief.

No doubt someone told you your current back problem is now caused by excessive scar tissue. Did you see any evidence of such a case? Did they x-ray it or MRI it? X-rays tends to show questionable scar tissue results. MRIs are more revealing of scar tissue buildups but are extremely expensive. My guess is instead of unproven scar tissue causing your pain it is related to the next set of vertebrae not mechanically fused in your spinal column. It is just a guess.

My suggestion is to avoid bending the spine backwards and instead gently bend the back forwards for 10 minutes at a time in a back relaxed state to relieve compressive forces acting on the discs so they have a chance to rehydrate themselves to a more normal cushioning function. There is never any good reason for bending backwards. A non-relaxed back such as when sitting or standing tends to contribute to spinal compression instead of spinal decompression, even when sitting in a recliner in the V shape position. When sitting or standing, back muscles are constantly being fired to maintain gravity equilibrium. Be sure to drink lots of water before your back pain treatments since the water is what fills the absorptive disc material that is in a decompressed state. If the disc materials are in a compressed state, the water may not fully restore the discs to a more normal cushioning function. Try lying face down on a large stretching ball for brief periods of time while on your knees and slowly roll forward to stretch your totally relaxed back and then back off ever so slightly to repeat the stretching cycle for 10 minutes at a time. The idea is that if it hurts when you stretch, back off immediately and take your time. Stretch only to a point that doesn't hurt or doesn't result in soreness later. In time, the incremental stretching will take effect and allow you to increase your stretching motion. It only takes a little practiced patience by not expecting instant pain relief results. Only a lucky few can expect instant pain relief results.

Another suggestion is to seriously read books on correct posture and back stretching exercises such as those out-of-the-box-thinking books as: "8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back" by Esther Gokhale. I did this after developing my back stretching device; I corrected my posture, and have been totally free of recurring back pain for 1 year and a half. My back thanks me over and over for spending the time to research as much as I could to get educated without relying on a credentialed professional to suggest ways to relieve back pain. I realized that in the end, it boils down to me and my back. So, I listened to what my back was telling me as I learned different ways to improve it. Once I got my back free of pain, I was able to concentrate more fully on learning more and more over time and help others just like me.

I recently helped a co-worker in so much back pain, that he needed help standing and walking. After one self treatment of gently bending and stretching his totally relaxed back after drinking lots of water, his back pain noticeably diminished. His range of motion improved and he now makes lame excuses to return my back stretching device I lent to him. He still sits wrong at his desk and I scold him that eventually his back will seize up again. Sometimes some people have to learn the hard way before changing their posture since bad habits are difficult to address unless there is recurring pain involved and they truly wish to avoid expensive life-limiting surgery.

so basically, this guy is wrong. The one question I have regarding these stretches is what about those of us who have already had surgery? Can we do anything about all the scar tissue that we have built up back there or we just out of luck? Thanks for the explanation.

By definition, bending the lower spine in such a manner puts more compressive forces directly on the bulging herniation causing the original pain. There are many products that arch the back and never address the original cause of the lower back pain. This forces the bulging discs to bulge even more and could lead to longer lasting pain that seems to never go away completely. The reason these methods and products work to some extent is they truly stretch the lower back muscles along the front side of the spine that help you stand straight. In most cases, ALL muscles in the general area of the lower back slowly become inflamed due to the natural reaction to disc herniation pushing nerves against hard bone. These methods and products successfully stretch these long muscles on the front part of the spine to relieve inflamed muscle pain in that area of the lower back only. However, this pain relief is shortly lived. Until you directly address the cause of the disc herniation, the temporarily relieved lower back muscles will slowly fall back into their inflamed state over time. That is probably why you have to do this over and over and never really address the true cause of the pain because of your lack of knowledge of the actual mechanics going on during a bout of lower back pain caused by herniated or bulging discs. When you are in pain, you simply cannot think straight and usually rely on past remedies that worked to bring only temporary relief or if you have good insurance, you get fed up with the returning pain and decide to get a doctor to gladly do his or her thing that could leave you in a condition which you are extremely limited in experiencing what life has to offer. Experiencing lower back pain is an effective deterrent to effective back pain relief.

IF, on the other hand, the force is applied opposite to what was demonstrated, the bulging herniation, i.e., the original cause of the current pain experienced, should recede back to a more normal shape and cushioning function for the disc, assuming the person is fully hydrated by drinking lots of water. Water hydration is what naturally restores the discs to their normal shape along with decompressive bending and stretching forces applied in the correct direction at the precise area of the disc herniation. By relieving the compression on the side of the spine that is causing the disc to bulge or herniate when gently bending the lower spine in the opposite direction from what was demonstrated, you transfer that compressive force to the opposite side of the spine where there are no spinal nerves to press against. When the disc herniation pushes spinal nerves, emitting from the enclosed spinal cord, against hard bone and results in lower back pain, the local muscles naturally begin to react as well and you get muscle pain compounded with herniation pain. When this occurs for an extended period or is repeated over and over, nature’s way takes over completely to the point that you dare not even move for an extended period of time until the pressures are slowly relieved while in a supine position and the knotted up lower back muscles get fresh blood circulated to flush out the toxic chemicals built up in the muscles.

A much more effective way to primarily stretch the spine first in the right direction and secondarily the lower back muscles is to bend and bring the knees up to the chest while laying face down and using the arms to reach and stretch out in line with the spine for brief periods of time.

By the way, the doctor, whom I respect, says “The idea of the McKenzie Exercise is to push the disc anteriorly which means we can actually take the compression off of the nerve root.” My non-medical interpretation is that the McKenzie Exercise increases instead of decreases the compressive forces causing the disc to bulge or herniate based on simple vector math. Since licensed medical doctors explain it their own way using medical terms such as "anteriorly" which most people don't have a clue what they mean and avoid asking them to avoid embarrassment, they simply expect you to believe them based on their medical credentials and long history of documented medical practice. After all, they are doctors. Who can truly argue with doctors? The answer is only other doctors with higher credentials. And they challenge you to find a better doctor when confronted with detailed but important and valid questions. When you question them, they refuse to go to the whiteboard and draw the force vectors on the spine that an engineer like me could easily analyze using vector math. I truly wonder why they simply rely on their credentials to convince you to do it their way and dodge the challenge to their knowledge of how bending and arching forces truly act on a spine.

This is more of what I can do. Simple stretches that may help with my lower back pain.